"Krishna is the Source of All Incarnations"

Skandham-1.

Chapter- 3.

Krishna is the Source of All Incarnations.

(1) "The Lord as the purusha accepted the universal form of the material world with its sixteen principles of material action to make a start with His creation.

(2) Dormant in the water, from that navel sprouted out of the lotus of manifestation Brahmâ, the father of all beings as the creator.

(3) It is imagined that the purusha, from the excellence of His existence, expanded into all the worlds.

(4) His form seen perfectly thus has numerous legs, thighs, arms and faces, with wonderful heads, ears, eyes and noses, all glowing with garlands and dresses.

(5) These multifarious incarnations are the indestructible source from which all the godly, human and animal beings originate.

(6) At first the sons of Brahmâ [the Kumâras] were disciplined in austerity for the realization of continuation.

(7) Incarnated next for the sake of its welfare, He, like a boar, uplifted the world out of the lower regions.

(8) Thirdly He accepted His presence among the learned (rishis) [as Nârada Muni] for the sake of evolving vedic knowledge for service in devotion without further material motives.

(9) Fourth born as the twin sons of king Dharma in the form of Nara-Nârâyana He underwent severe penances to attain control over the senses.

(10) Fifth with the name of Kapila He gave an exposition to the brahmin Âsuri on the nature of metaphysics and the elements of creation as through time the knowledge was lost.

(11) Sixth, born as the son of Atri [called Dattâtreya] from Anasûyâ who prayed for Him, He lectured to Alarka, Prahlâda and others about the transcendental.

(12) Seventh born from Âkûti as Yajña, the son of Prajâpati Ruci He, assisted by the godly, ruled over the change of the period of Svâyambhuva Manu together with His son Yama and others.

13) Eighth, from the wife of King Nâbhi, Merudevî He took birth as King Rishabha and showed the path of perfection respected by people of all stages of life.

(14) Accepting His ninth incarnation from prayers by the sages, He ruled [as Prithu] the earth for the sake of its cultivation and produces, which made it beautifully attractive.

(15) Like a fish [Mâtsya] in the water He kept Vaivasvata Manu after the period of Câkshusha Manu on a boat of protection afloat the waters when the world was deeply inundated.

(16) Eleventh as a tortoise [Kurma] He sustained the Mandarâcala Hill of the theists and atheists which served as a pivot in the ocean.

(17) Twelfth was Dhanvantari [Lord of medicine] and thirteenth He appeared as an alluring beautiful woman to the atheists while giving nectar to the godly.

(18) His fourteenth incarnation He appeared as Nrisimha, who with His nails half as a Lion on His lap tore apart the king of the atheists like a carpenter does cane.

(19) Fifteenth He assumed the form of Vâmana [the dwarf-brâhmana] who, from the arena of sacrifice of Mahârâja Bali, begged only for three steps of land, while at heart willing to return to the kingdom of the three worlds.

(20) In His sixteenth incarnation [as Bhrigupati] He acted twenty-one times against the ruling class that negated the intelligentsia.

(21) Seeing the common people as being less intelligent He seventeenth incarnated as Vyâsadeva from Satyavatî by Parâs'ara Muni, to divide the desire tree of the Veda into several branches.

(22) Next He performed superhuman in controlling the Indian Ocean having assumed the form of a divine human being [Râma] in order to act for the sake of the Godly.

(23) Nineteenth as well as twentiest He appeared as Balarâma and Krishna from the Vrishni-family and thus Bhagavân removed the burden from the world.

(24) Thereafter in the Age of Kali His birth as Lord Buddha from Añjanâ in Gayâ will take place in order to delude the ones envious with the theists.

(25) Following that at the conjunction of two Yugas when there is hardly a ruler found that is not a plunderer, the Lord of Creation will take birth with the name of Kalki as the son of Vishnu Yas'â.

(26) O Twice-born, from the ocean of goodness the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable like the countless streams from thousands of lakes.

(27) All the powerful sages, the godly, the Manus and their progeny, as well as the Prajâpatis [founding fathers] are aspects of the Lord.

(28) All these are part of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord [Bhagavân] in person who gives protection in all ages and worlds against the enemies of the King of Heaven [Indra].

(29) Those who in the morning and the evening carefully recite these mysterious births of the Lord, will find relief from all miseries of life.

(30) All these forms of the Lord are certainly of the one without a form that is transcendental; they came about in the self from the modes of the material energy with its elements.

(31) To the less intelligent seer they are as clouds in the sky and dust in the air in order to perceive.

(32) This unmanifested beyond, which is without a form affected by the modes of nature and is alike that what is unseen and unheard - thàt is the living being that takes birth repeatedly.

(33) Whenever one realizes that all these gross and subtle forms originate from the ignorance in the self, at that time one is in association with the divine.

(34) With the illusory energy subsided there is enrichment with the full knowledge of enlightenment and knowing in the glories of the self.

(35) Thus the inactive unborn Lord of the Heart with His births and activities has been described by the learned as being undetectable even in the Vedas.

(36) Being within every living being He, the omnipotent master of the senses who's play is spotless, is independent and unaffected by creation, destruction and maintenance.

(37) Acting like an actor in a drama, by His manipulations the ones with little knowledge cannot know Him in His activities, names and forms by means of speculation and oration.

(38) Only he can know of the transcendental glories of the Creator - who is all-powerful with the wheel of the chariot in His hand - who renders unconditional, uninterrupted, favorable service to His fragrant lotus feet.

39) In this world one can be successful if one knows in full about the Personality of Godhead who embraces all of His universes and inspires for the complete of the spirit of ecstasy in which one will never find the dreaded repetitions of the worldly interest."

(40) This book about the story of the Personality of Godhead and His devotees compiled by the wise man of God is, as a supplement to the Vedas, there for the ultimate good of all people, bringing success, happiness and perfection.

(41) S'rîla Vyâsadeva delivered it to his son, the most respectful among the self-realized, having extracted the cream from all the Vedic literatures and histories.

(42) He on his turn spoke it to emperor Parîkchit who sat at the Ganges surrounded by the wise in penance until his death.

(43) Just after the return of Lord Krishna to His abode, with which also the sense of duty and the spiritual knowledge and such disappeared, was this brilliant story of God delivered to enlighten the people in the Age of Quarrel [Kali] who lost their vision.

(44) When I heard the story from that powerful great sage, I as well managed to understand it, being perfectly attentive by his mercy, so that I can also tell it to you from my own realization."

The order carriers of Lord Vishnu, who are worshiped even by the demigods, possess wonderful bodily features exactly like those of Vishnu and are very rarely seen. The Vishnudutas protect the devotees of the Lord from the hands of enemies, from envious persons and even from my jurisdiction, as well as from natural disturbances.